InF3ct!0N C0mp13t3
by OriginalSin1132
Summary: Due to a mysterious AIDA's infection, Ryou and Kasumi become their PCs in The World. Multi-chapter, KuhnxHaseo slash Spoilers for all games
1. Chapter 1

Title!nF3ct!0N C0mp13t3

Rating: R

Pairing: KuhnxHaseo

Warnings: graphic gay sex, oral, masturbation, voyeurism, language

Summary: Due to a mysterious AIDA's infection, Ryou and Kasumi become their PCs in The World. Multi-chapter, KuhnxHaseo slash Spoilers for all games

Disclaimer: I own nothing. ALTHOUGH I WISH I DID. Is arrested

Author's Note: First multi-chapter I'm attempting. I hope I can write this all the way through. 8D

Yes, this is somewhat of a love story... with smut, angst, and adventure. Please R&R, let me know how it's going. I'll appreciate any suggestions you may have.

As always I'm my own beta, and although I strive for perfect grammar some little things get away from me. Sorry. This is set around the beginning of the Sage Palace Tournament, but Haseo already has Xth Form. It also won't follow the storyline very closely, but will incorporate events from all of the .hack series.

**Login.****One****//Infected**

* * *

Σ**Unseen Alien Elf Animal**

Haseo was walking through a forest dungeon, not so much trying to level than to just look at the graphics around him. Sometimes the sheer beauty of the simulated world he'd come to love and hate at the same time overwhelmed him, and he'd just have to warp to one of the Lost Grounds or prettier dungeons to enjoy the scenery. It also helped him think hard, something he seemed to need to do on a regular basis these days. AIDA was spreading because of Sakaki's efforts and Yata was missing, both online and in the real world.

The Rogue stopped in one of the more leafy areas of the dungeon and sat down, watching the wind blow the leaves off the trees and sending them spiralling towards the ground. "God Yata. Where are you?" he wondered aloud, leaning back and looking up at the sunlight-dappled trees.

"I've been wondering that myself lately," said a voice. Haseo started and looked towards the source of the voice, narrowing his eyes against the glare. Pi appeared in the doorway, pink pigtails shifting slightly in the wind. She came over and sat down next to him.

"Listen, Haseo. I really appreciate you... well... being co-operative. I'm awfully stressed right now, and it really takes a lot of the strain off, knowing I can trust you to stay safe and not do anything stupid for the time being." Haseo wasn't sure as to whether this was a compliment or a very roundabout insult to his personality. Deciding it was the former, he replied, "I can't say that I'm feeling much better. Yata's disappearance really shook me up. I mean, I never really_ liked_ the guy, but he really was our pillar of strength and our main access to what's going on. Other than you, I suppose."

Pi smiled slightly and touched his arm before getting up. "Oh, that's right. I have something for you. Yata had thought it might come in handy, what with the AIDA problem worsening." Pi used an item and Haseo got a message on his screen, saying "You and anyone in your party are now exempt from the three people in a party rule in the case of Data Drain Awakening."

"I should log out and continue my search for Master Yata. But... try to still have a good time in the World and don't forget the reason normal players still log on every day. Don't forget your love of this world, okay?" Just before the Tribal Grappler warped out, Haseo said, "Pi?"

"Yes?"

"...Thanks."

Haseo finished the dungeon relatively quickly afterwards, levelling once just before he reached the Beast Temple. As he was about to enter, he got a short mail from Kuhn. "Haseo. I need your help. Come to the Outer Dungeons as soon as you can."

* * *

Θ **Hidden Forbidden Hades**

Forgetting his reward, the Rogue warped out of the area and headed to the Wailing Capital: Wald Uberlisterin. Opening the fault in data, he warped through it and into the Outer Dungeon, where Kuhn was waiting beside the Chaos Gate.

"I came as quickly as I could. What's wrong?"

Kuhn looked at him gravely. "There are more forum reports of AIDA appearing in areas. There are two more Lost Ones because of it, both innocent players!" The Gunner looked down, hands fisted at his sides. "I can't believe... I'M SO USELESS."

Haseo stared at Kuhn's shaking form. This wasn't like the usually upbeat Kuhn he knew at all. "Look, it's not going to do you any good to blame yourself for this. It's no one's fault but-"

"IT WAS SILABUS AND GASPARD!" the gunner choked out. "And I couldn't... I couldn't save them." Haseo's facial features went blank for a moment, processing the information.

"...no. GOD DAMMIT, NO!" Haseo's legs gave way and he fell to his knees, shuddering with fury. "I will _kill _Sakaki. I'LL RIP HIM LIMB FROM LIMB. ILL-"

"And I'll help," Kuhn said quietly.

"HOW _DARE _HE TAKE THE WORLD AWAY FROM THEM! IT WAS... IT WAS..." his voice cracked and he couldn't continue, and just sat there, sobbing. "I promised to keep them safe." Haseo was surprised to see a pair of strong arms wrapping around him, pulling him close to a yellow clothed body. The younger boy cried into the other's shoulder for what seemed like hours, clutching Kuhn's shirt as if it was the only thing left in the world.

After Haseo's sobs had quieted to an occasional hiccup, Kuhn spoke, still not releasing his grip on his friend. "I know it's not fair, but we have to stay strong. We can't break down like we just did. For all the Lost Ones... and for Pi, we can't be weak." They sat in silence for a minute.

"Yeah. We'll get 'em back, won't we?" Saying this seemed to snap Haseo back to reality, and he immediately detached himself from the other male, muttering an apology and blushing bright red.

"Now you're talking." Kuhn grinned and got up, surveying his surroundings. "What do you say to getting our butts over to this AIDA hotspot?"

Haseo smiled a fanged smile and flexed his fingers. "I hope Sakaki's there. I'd like to have a few words with him," he muttered dangerously, glaring at an Outer Bug floating over in the corner.

They warped out of the Outer Dungeon and back to Dol Dona, where they restocked and made the necessary preparations, both being extra cautious and maxing out their inventory levels just in case. Even though the field was at least ten levels beneath them, they had a feeling it wasn't going to be a normal area by any means.

* * *

Θ **Galloping Aster's Dagger**

As soon as the two entered the area, noise appeared everywhere, signalling data faults all around the place.

"Why hasn't anyone reported this area to CC Corp?" asked Kuhn, staring at the starry data streams floating by in the midst of the static. "Gimme a hand with this, will ya?" Haseo muttered, using Skeith to hack into the faults in the area. Kuhn used Magus as well, and soon the white noise disappeared altogether.

"This is a pretty heavily corrupted area. We should be careful," said Kuhn, dodging a passing bit of binary code as if it was going to bite him.

The rogue nodded in agreement and looked at his map, running towards the nearest enemies with Kuhn in tow. The monsters were criminally easy, and it didn't take them long to clear most of the field.

"All that's left is the boss, and not a sign of AIDA," Haseo said triumphantly, kicking a treasure chest and earning a surprisingly high level reward for his effort.

"Don't get too cocky yet," Kuhn warned, smiling in spite of his tone of voice. They traversed a few more land masses (and kicked a Sleipnir while they were at it), and found the massive tree stump shaped boss easily.

"Here's the boss. This'll be a piece of cake."

As soon as Haseo ran in, he realised there was something seriously wrong with the boss. It was bigger than any other Forest King he'd ever fought, and chunks of data were missing from its massive body, exposing the binary code within. Its hit points were also displaying oddly, where the max points should have been it just showed as !#0$!&. It stared at him, growling menacingly.

"Hey, Kuhn? I think we should get out of here." The gunner nodded and used a smoke screen, but the barrier around them stayed strong. Black dots began to appear around the monster, entering through the data faults in its body and patching them.

"What's wrong with it?" spluttered Kuhn, looking at it with wide eyes.

"Endrance once told me about monsters like this. He used to play as a character named Elk seven years ago, and that cat on his shoulder's name was Mia, who had been his best friend in The World R:1. Something weird happened to her, and when he came back to The World in R:2, AIDA masqueraded as Mia, tricking him into believing that was really her consciousness. The monsters seven years ago that terrorized The World were the Eight Phases of the Cursed Wave; our Epitaphs. When battling them, their hit points would be infinite until you could do a Protect Break, which would allow you to Data Drain them and get their hit points down to a normal level."

"So what you're saying is..."

"We have to Data Drain it. Boost our morale level as fast as you can so we can hit Awakening."

"But we don't have a third party member."

"Pi gave me a hack this morning that overrides the three party members rule of Data Drain Awakening. She said Yata had told her it might be useful."

"Man, they sure don't call him the Prophet for nothing," the gunner snorted. Haseo laughed, and then motioned for his friend to follow him. Kuhn nodded then ran at the Forest King which was strangely docile for a monster, especially an AIDA infected one. It was almost leisurely as it half heartedly swiped at Kuhn and Haseo with a massive foot, scattering clumps of dirt every which way.

The two began hacking away at it, trying their best to dodge the tiny black circles of AIDA and binary code that came off whenever it was hit. The infinite hit points changed, but still stayed weird characters and numbers. Haseo took an opportunity to Rengeki, raising their morale bar significantly. The monster was barely putting up a fight at all, occasionally swinging a foot in their general direction but otherwise seemingly unphased by their attacks. Kuhn used Dust Bullet, doing tons of would-be damage but only really taking another few pieces of code out of it. Their morale gauge was quickly full after a few more minutes of relentless Rengekis and skills, so Haseo activated his avatar.

As he took the data from the Forest King, he noticed something was off. It wasn't the usual data streams flowing into his PC; these ones had black dots infused with them, corrupting the data. Haseo tried to stop the transfer, but it was already complete. Once the screen went back to normal, a message appeared:

!nF3ct!0N C0mp13t3

The rogue stared at the bright red words until they faded off the screen. "...no."

* * *

Ryou tried to move, but his hands were frozen, clutching the controller in a death grip. He tried to scream for help, but black was taking over his vision, clouding his mind. He fell off his chair, landing hard on the floor of his room. "AI...DA..."

* * *

Kuhn stared at Haseo's motionless body. "Hey, Haseo? Are you alright? Answer me, damnit!"

After Haseo had stopped responding, the gunner had defended him as best as he could, defeating the Forest King quickly. Even though it had 10000HP after being Data Drained, AIDA was gone and its Attack and Defence stats were the same as a level 100 monster. Even when the barrier around them had disappeared, his friend had stayed still and unmoving. Kuhn cautiously used a Health Potion, and although Haseo's stats went up accordingly, he stayed frozen.

Kuhn was about to short mail Pi for help, but his friend stirred, moaning and clutching his head.

"Fuck, how long was I out?" As the rogue's eyes adjusted to the light in the field and he was able to see his surroundings, his eyes widened. As Kuhn watched quizzically, Haseo sat back and emitted a horrified squeak, taking off his PC's gloves and touching the fabric of his shirt. "K-Kuhn?"

"Yeah?"

"I... I'm in the game."

"I know you are. So am I." The gunner was giving his friend one of those looks that always said, "Okay, you have two seconds to explain yourself before I call the men in white coats."

"No, I mean I... I can smell things. I can smell the air here. I can feel the cloth and metal of Haseo's outfit. I can't see anything but this. There's no screen around this, no map, just... reality." He seemed to think for a moment, and when he held out his hand a Health Potion appeared in it. "See, I can access my inventory. But only if I think about what I want out of there."

"But-"

"When I Data Drained that monster, AIDA was inside it. In the Data Stream. Instead of saying I got a Virus Core, a message in big red letters popped up, and Infection Complete was written in 1337. See Kuhn? This is AIDA's next big experiment."

"But that's impossible!"

Haseo got up and walked over to where Kuhn was standing. "I wouldn't be able to take my shirt off if I wasn't now outside _some_ parameters of the game, now would I?" The rogue peeled off the tight fitting shirt and threw it to the side. He was very skinny, yet his abs and pecs were perfectly defined.

'They certainly can do wonders with bump mapping these days,' thought Kuhn absently.

"You know, this must be what it feels like to be an AI." Haseo ran over to the edge of the lake and jumped in, armor and all. He was able to swim out to the middle of the lake and back, usual boundaries of the lake edge gone.

"This is AWESOME!" he laughed, splashing some water in his friend's direction. "I've always wanted to swim in one of these."

"Haseo, I think we should be careful. I don't know whether what you absorbed into your PC was all of it in the area." Kuhn looked around warily, but the field seemed to be functioning properly and no dots could be seen.

"Yeah, I think it's gone for now. Can I just stay and swim a bit longer? It's been ages."

"Well... okay." The gunner made his PC sit down at the edge of the lake and smiled inwardly at Haseo's enthusiasm. The kid was really starting to grow on him.

The rogue could swim like a fish, and it seemed as though he'd been born in the water. After swimming another few laps, he got out and shook himself off like some kind of dog. Then he sat down beside Kuhn, stroking the grass absently while staring at the Crest Gun off in the distance.

"Hey, you know... you don't have to put on a fake smile because of me."

"Hmm?"

"Your smile. It's... well, it's sad. If you've got something on your mind, tell me."

Startled at Haseo's words, Kuhn replied, "I'm just worried, I guess. Silabus and Gaspard are Lost Ones because of AIDA. Because we haven't done anything yet! And now you're stuck in the game; hell, you're _living_ in it. How in the world are we supposed to fix all this?"

"You're not in it alone. You've got all of us Epitaph Users at your side, and we're all doing the best we can." Haseo awkwardly slung a comforting arm around his friend's shoulders, unused to this kind of closeness with someone.

"Thanks." Kuhn shot him a sincere smile this time, and Haseo couldn't help but grin back.

The two got up and made their way back towards the Chaos Gate, kicking a few Chim Chims on the way back.

"WHOA! When I get a Chim Sphere, it tickles!"

If anything, the kid was cute as hell. Kuhn always found that lately, he couldn't help but feel happy when he was around Haseo. The rogue seemed to have gotten so much more carefree and confidant, it was like a breath of fresh air. Sure, he liked Pi and the others. But Haseo had become the friend he never had in The World. He could have fun and be himself around him, which was a rare occurrence these days.

Inside, the gunner was surprised at how easily Haseo had gotten used to his situation. Kuhn knew that he, himself would still have been lying on the grass and telling himself it was all just a bad dream. He turned around to survey the area once more. Just as he determined it clear, something moved in the corner of his eye, to Haseo's right. AIDA was moving along the ground in a patch of black, looking almost stealthy as it approached the rogue.

"HASEO! LOOK OUT!"

The younger turned to look at Kuhn, just in time to miss seeing AIDA spring up and hurtle towards him.

'It's come to finish the job. I WON'T LET YOU BECOME A LOST ONE!' He pushed Haseo out of the way, taking the bubbles square in the chest. He coughed once, a few black spheres escaping his lips before collapsing on the soft grass.

* * *

Kasumi toppled off his perch on the stool in his office, falling hard like a rag doll. He didn't even try to call for help. No one was around to hear. He reached for the cordless phone he'd left resting on the floor and pressed "TALK" then dialled 911 before blacking out.

* * *

"Kuhn? KUHN?"

The gunner felt as though someone had dropped an anvil on his head. Massaging his temple, he sat up slowly, looking around. Haseo was looking at him expectantly, orangey orbs wide with fear and concern.

"You okay?"

"Unhh... yeah, I guess." He breathed in the sweet smelling air, definitely different from the stuffy hot air in his office. "I'm still trying to wrap my mind around this whole concept. I mean... how could this become reality? Even though it may be reality for the AIs and data, how could this become a place of flesh and blood?"

"I don't know." Haseo offered a hand to pull him up.

Kuhn accepted the gloved hand that was offered and stood up, dusting off his costume slowly, exploring the coarse fabric of his outfit. "I can't believe I can actually _feel_ things in the game now. I can feel Kuhn. It's not my body... kind of feels, you know, wrong."

"Like it's another guy you're touching? Yeah. Fuckin' weird."

They reached the Chaos Gate and warped out and back to Dol Dona, where they contacted Pi then continued to Raven.

* * *

**Home: Raven**

"YOU TWO ARE WHAT?" screeched Pi, nearly deafening the other two in the room.

"We got attacked by a weird AIDA infected monster. When I Data Drained it, AIDA got into my PC and somehow trapped my consciousness inside."

"Why did you not call for reinforcements?" Pi growled.

"We couldn't get out of the batt—" Kuhn stopped when the tribal grappler glared at him. "Oh. I forgot you could send short mails during battle." He looked sheepish.

"It's not like we were really thinking about much but how to beat the damn thing at the time. Give us a break," Haseo said, coming to Kuhn's defence.

"Haseo! Do you know how serious this is?" Pi said sternly, fixating him with one of her "serious stares."

"Yeah, well. You don't have to go around getting angry about what we can't change! Past is past, now can we think of a way to reverse this?"

Pi glared at him for a minute before sagging, sitting down on the steps to the Serpent of Lore with her head in her hands.

"I just don't know _what_ to do anymore. Yata is missing, and you two are out of commission, we're missing the Rebirth... We're never going to get anything done at this rate."

It seemed that Haseo had reached his emotional tolerance level for the day, and just stood there, aghast. Kuhn seemed frozen as well, not quite knowing what to do. This was_ Pi_, for chrissake. These kinds of things just didn't happen to her.

"...Pi?"

"I'll talk to CC Corp about making some special arrangements for the two of you. Until then, just stay in Canard's Home." Her voice sounded a little shaky, and before either of the males could react, she'd warped out.

"I guess we ought to make our way to Tartarga."

* * *

**Home: Canard**

"What the hell are we supposed to do here?"

The two had been sitting on the richly carpeted staircase of Canard's Home for at least an hour, and frankly, it was getting boring. Haseo groaned and lay back, stretched out along the small expanse of stairs. He'd removed most of his armor and stored it with Death Grunty, making things a lot more comfortable.

"We need to wait until Pi comes back with CC Corp's orders."

"Well, what does she expect us to do here?"

Kuhn thought for a minute. "Beats me. Wanna go out to the bridge?"

"Anything's better than sitting here any longer."

They walked out to the bridge and looked out of the windows, where they could see Mac Anu in the distance. "This game always did have unnaturally beautiful scenery."

"Yeah. Sometimes... I just warp to Lost Grounds like Megin Fi and Indieglut Lugh just to enjoy the graphics," said Haseo.

Kuhn stared at him incredulously, and Haseo blushed slightly, turning away. "I enjoy the beauty of this world just as much as anyone."

"It's not a bad thing, I didn't mean to make it seem like it was. I just never pictured you as being someone who would enjoy The World like that."

"There's a lot you don't know about me, Kuhn. I'll admit that I never really looked at The World until Shino showed me how. She opened my eyes to how beautiful this place can be. It may not be _real_,per se, but she taught me to see past the graphics and into the history and depth of the stories. I love this place. It has its dangers, but then again, doesn't the real world? We just have to fight to save the places and the people we love."

"But now it's real. It's reality for both of us."

"Yeah. In some ways, I guess you could say I wanted this to happen. Not to you, but to me. The World has become my home. It's my escape from all the bad in my life, where I can be someone amazing, someone people look up to."

"Bad time at home?"

"I live by myself. My father hates me, and my mother is dead. Killed herself when I was 10."

The gunner nearly cried at the depth of the pain in his friend's eyes. Haseo said it so emotionlessly it was scary, but he couldn't disguise how much it must hurt him.

"I'm-"

A short mail from Pi interrupted Kuhn. "We've set up a special area for the two of you. It's in the Theta server. Just go to Tartarga's Chaos Gate and enter the words: Θ** Hidden Forbidden ****In**** Heat**."

"Hey, isn't that the Sugar Mansion: Sif Berg?" Kuhn asked when he short mailed Pi back.

"Yes. We've made it so you two can live in the mansion."

Haseo grinned. "Wow! We're actually getting a whole area to ourselves!"

"Now we'll have to watch that we don't fall into the lava."

* * *

Θ** Hidden Forbidden In Heat**

Haseo was furious. "DID THEY EVEN STOP TO CONSIDER HOW HOT THE LAVA WOULD MAKE THIS PLACE?"

"I short mailed Pi. They're working on some kind of steam powered air conditioner."

The rogue face palmed. "Even while we're dying, they decide they'd like to keep with the theme of the game."

The two males were lying on one of the couches in the front living room, stripped down to their boxers and cursing the fact that Pi had decided to lock them in for the time being, "Until CC Corp can analyse the problem and determine whether you're a threat or not."

"Think they'll make any food for us? I'm hungry," Kuhn moaned as his stomach growled loudly.

Haseo scrunched his face in the most adorable way, then a mango appeared in his hand.

"You carry these around?"

"I bought a few before we left. I thought it couldn't hurt."

He tossed the Asian Mango to Kuhn, who ate it as quickly as he possibly could without choking himself.

"You know, this may not be too bad."

"What, living in a place with a temperature akin to that of hell?"

"No. Being trapped in the game."

Haseo nodded lazily and took another mango, this time eating it himself. Some of the juice dripped down his chin and onto his bare chest. Kuhn had the strangest urge to jump on Haseo and lick the juice off. Looking the boy over idly, he found he wanted to do a lot more than just lick him. The thoughts now going through Kuhn's mind brought a deep red blush to his cheeks, and the question he'd been ignoring ever since he met Haseo now popped up again. 'Am I gay?'

Kuhn didn't have a problem with liking males, really. He just didn't like them in general, and he knew that. He'd never felt even remotely aroused by a boy before, but for some odd reason, Haseo made him hotter than he'd ever been for a girl. He was also the only person Kuhn had ever really thought about this way, and it scared him.

"Want another mango?"

Kuhn shook his head, still caught up in his thoughts.

Haseo ate the juicy fruit, this time grabbing a handkerchief and cleaning himself off.

"So uh... what do we do now?" the rogue asked after another half hour of silence.

Kuhn groaned inwardly. This was going to be a long night.


	2. Wrong From Right

_**Disclaimer:**__ I own nothing. ALTHOUGH I WISH I DID. -Is arrested-_

_**Author's Note:**__ Sorry it took so long. School dropped a bunch of stuff on me and my muse temporarily deserted me. I kinda hate this chapter too, so I might rewrite it when I find the time. I'm also aware that I fail at fight scenes. ;;_

_There is citrusy content near the end of the chapter, so if you're not into that sort of thing, just skip through._

**Login.Two/Wrong from Right**

The last day or two had been pure torture for the steam gunner. He could have sworn that Haseo had some kind of plot to make him loose all control, and God, but it was working beautifully if he did. The day before, he'd caught him licking some caramel sauce they'd found off his fingers, and almost came in his pants at the sight. Haseo had been making some kind of game out of it, licking the sauce off almost sensually, savouring the sweet flavour. Kuhn had never been more relieved that his lower half was hidden behind a potted plant when Haseo looked over and smiled cutely, a drop of caramel stuck to the tip of his nose. That night, all he could think of was a very sticky silver haired boy, and it was driving him crazy. 

CC Corp had also finally installed an air conditioner, yet it didn't really do much to repel the intense heat radiating from the lava below. The two spent most of their time half naked, splayed out in front of the fan, which definitely didn't help with Kuhn's attempts to ignore his friend.

"I wish they'd just unlock this stupid place. Why aren't we allowed to warp out?" said Haseo for the fifth time in the past ten minutes. 

"Maybe they're afraid we can damage the data."

"No more than an AI can."

"Why do you think they try to eliminate AIs from the system?"

"...I'm short mailing Pi. This is getting ridiculous. It's like being in prison."

"Maybe we _are_ in prison," said Kuhn grimly.

Haseo short mailed Pi. 'When are we getting let out of here?'

He waited for a bit and got no answer. "She didn't even say anything."

Kuhn snorted. "Typical of CC Corp to keep everything hush-hush."

Neither spoke for the next few hours as they were both too wrapped up in their own thoughts to really acknowledge the other. However, a sudden arrival startled both out of their reveries. 

"Hey guys. :)" 

Haseo scrambled back in surprise upon seeing a silver haired Flick Reaper standing in the doorway of the Sugar Mansion. "Zelkova! How did you...?"

Zelkova shot him an enigmatic smile and offered a hand to pull him up. "I'm here to rescue you both, if you're willing to come with me."

"Where are we going?"

"Tartarga. I've made some arrangements."

"Pi can get there though," said Kuhn sceptically, getting up and handing Haseo his armour.

"Not now. As of a few minutes ago, the Net Slum vanished from surveillance in the Serpent of Lore, as well as from everyone's Town Menus. You can also warp to areas from there and not be detected. :D"

Both escapees hurried after Zelkova as he led them to the Chaos Gate. "Here, take this." Zelkova handed each of them an item called a **Gate Key**. "This item will let you get in and out of Tartarga. Don't lose it, or you guys could get stranded in an area."

After fiddling with the Gate Keys for a few minutes, they figured out how to warp directly to the Net Slum, where they were met with a rather curious sight.

**Net Slum Tartarga**

Awaiting the arrival of the three were Kaede, Matsu, Sophora, and Hiiragi. "The remaining members of the Seven Counsel have volunteered to cater to your needs, whatever they may be." Clearly this decision was not unanimous; Hiiragi was pouting off to one side and Sophora had her arms crossed and face hidden, not making any move to greet the newcomers. Haseo was embarrassed and muttered, "It's alright, you all don't have to."

"If you need any supplies or equipment from Root Towns, just short mail any of them and they'll get you what you need. :D"

Hiiragi and Sophora grudgingly handed over their member addresses. "Invite me into your party whenever you need help," grumbled Hiiragi, clearly not meaning a word of it. Sophora merely grunted and warped out.

"Hey Haseo! Just gimme a call if you ever need anything." Matsu saluted his friend and left.

"Master Haseo... I will do everything in my power to help you." Kaede bowed low before leaving as well, embarrassing Haseo even more, if that was possible.

"I'm going to look into what's keeping you both here. I'll try and be back soon. :D" Zelkova warped out, leaving Kuhn and Haseo alone in Tartarga.

"How does he do it?" asked Haseo. They walked by the place where Gaspard used to set up Canard's guild shop, and a pang of remorse struck him. 

"How does he do what?"

"He seems to know everything. How did he know we were in Sif Berg? How does he know we're stuck in here?"

Kuhn shrugged, wanting to take the opportunity to get away from his friend before he jumped him or did something stupid. "Hey um, if you don't mind, I'd kind of like to be alone for a bit. I'll be at the bridge if you need me." 

Haseo looked confused. "Okay... I'm going to Megin Fi. I want to think some things over too." 

Kuhn ran off without another word, nearly ripping the door to Tartarga's main area off its rollers in his haste to depart. The rogue frowned, then shrugged. "I guess he'll tell me what's wrong when he's ready."

Θ** Hidden Forbidden Battlefield**

From the Sign in Coite-Bodher, Haseo warped to the Backtop City, Megin Fi. He walked up the long flight of steps to the place where he fought Ovan and sat down on the Tri-Edge sign. Even when he couldn't feel anything, it had looked as though it was on fire, rather like a window to the centre of the earth. Now that he could feel, he noticed that the floor where the red marks marred its rough surface _was_ hot to the touch. It was nearly hot enough to burn, and began to sting if he left his hand on it for too long. "I wonder if the sign is reacting to Skeith..."

His thoughts drifted to Kuhn, and he wondered aloud, "Why was he so quiet today? Maybe he misses the life outside. I bet he has a girlfriend worrying about him..."

The rogue rested his head on his hands, wondering why the thought of Kuhn having a girlfriend made him feel so down. _"It's because you'd like to have him, ain't that right?" _said Skeith smugly. 

"Shut it. I... I like girls."

"_It's not good to lie to yourself, kid."_

"Stop invading my mind!"

"_What are you gonna do if I don't?"_

Haseo sighed. "Look, will you just be quiet?" 

He ignored his Epitaph's further protests, got up and stretched, and left the lookout point, beginning the long trek to the Chaos Gate.

**Net Slum Tartarga**

The steam gunner was pacing the bridge, barely noticing the beautiful expanse of Mac Anu in the distance. "What do I do?"

"Girl troubles?"

Kuhn whirled around. "Endrance! How did you...?"

"I've been looking for Haseo. Zelkova let me in, providing I didn't tell Pi or Sakubo about my whereabouts."

"What do you need him for?" Kuhn surprised himself with the edge in his tone. 

Endrance flipped his hair out of his eyes before speaking, "I'd like to go hunting with him, not that it's any of your concern. Do you object?" The former emperor was still speaking in his signature calm voice, but it was now icy and aloof as well.

"Ah... um, no." 

Endrance raised an eyebrow. "Then you won't mind if I borrow Haseo for the better part of tomorrow?"

'OF COURSE I DO. HE'S MINE, GOT THAT?' Kuhn forced himself to say, "Go ahead. It's not like I'm his keeper or anything." He turned away, leaning on the railing and looking out at Mac Anu. "Just be careful. We haven't tried fighting like this yet."

"I am always careful when it comes to Haseo. He will not be harmed in my presence."

"_You're just going to let Endrance take him away without a fight?" _growled Magus, surfacing in Kuhn's mind for the first time in weeks. Kuhn shushed his avatar, promising to continue the conversation later.

The boy in question stepped onto the bridge, and Kuhn wondered how much he'd heard. "Haseo! I was so worried about you!" Endrance pulled his friend into a hug and for once Haseo tolerated the touch, even going so far as to return the embrace. 

"Haseo, I was hoping that you'd join me on an adventure tomorrow."

The rogue glanced at Kuhn, who forced a smile and nodded. "Sure."

"I'll meet you at Canard's Home then?"

"Yeah."

Endrance warped out with a slight wave, leaving his fellow epitaph users in silence. "You know, you don't need to ask if you're going to go somewhere. Just because we're stuck here doesn't mean you always have to stay around."

"Trying to get rid of me?" Haseo teased. 

"Of course not! Ah, I mean..." _'Shit,'_ thought Kuhn, _'What's wrong with me?'_

"Are you okay?" Haseo was concerned; Kuhn could see him trying to hide it behind an emotionless facade.

"Yeah, yeah. Never been better!" he replied lamely.

"If you say so." Haseo looked as though he wanted to say more, but restrained himself. "So, you really don't mind if I leave you alone for a while tomorrow? You can come if you want to."

Kuhn thought of Endrance shooting him disdainful looks the whole time they were out, and declined. 

The rogue nodded. "Anyway, I'm getting kind of tired. You want to find somewhere to crash?"

"Alright."

**Home: Canard**

After a few minutes of racking their brains for a place with beds/couches/furniture that wasn't in Sif Berg, they decided to stay in the Home and sleep on the plush carpet on the landing. 

"Hey... Kuhn? Are you... you're not angry with me, are you?" They were lying side by side in the dark, listening to the water running in the various pools scattered around the Home. 

"Of course not. What would give you that idea?" 

"Because it's my fault that we're stuck here." Haseo propped himself up on his elbow and looked at his friend. 

"Haseo, you have to stop thinking that you're balancing the whole world on your shoulders. Stop blaming yourself for everything that's happening because it's _not_ your fault." 

He sighed. "But it feels so much like it is."

"That way of thinking won't get you anywhere. What's done is done. It's pointless to dwell on the past. Come on; let's just get some sleep for now. I'm tired."

"...Fine."

When they awoke the next morning (Or was it afternoon? Neither could tell), they were greeted with Zelkova's smiling face. "Hungry:D"

Both boys took the caramel coffee and mangoes gratefully, slurping down the former so quickly they almost scalded their tongues. 

"How are you both?"

"Fine, thanks," they said unanimously. Zelkova led them out of the Home and into the middle of Net Slum, sitting them down in front of the old location of Shop Acorn.

"That's good. :) Now, I hear you're going out hunting with Endrance today, Haseo. Be careful, alright? We don't know how fighting will affect you and the game itself. Already more data anomalies are popping up wherever you've been, and CC Corp is struggling to contain the areas and repair the damaged data."

Even though Kuhn didn't particularly think Pi deserved his pity at this point, he felt sorry for her. She'd probably be under extreme suspicion at CC Corp because of being associated with them both, and he couldn't even imagine the pressure being put on her. He glanced at Haseo, who looked as though a similar train of thought was running through his brain. 

"But doesn't that mean we're damaging Tartarga as well?" asked Haseo.

"Tartarga is a bug in itself, outside the parameters of the game. We get all kinds of rejected or failed hacking attempts and data around here. You two are just more types of anomalies, who can do no more harm than a regular AI." Zelkova gestured towards ClooFooFoo and Dorin, who were scampering past happily, their odd TV screen faces displaying their usual joyful expressions. ClooFooFoo stopped to sniff Haseo's hand, and he smiled and patted the affectionate AI on the head, receiving a gentle nuzzle as thanks before it ran off in pursuit of Dorin. 

"My guess is that you corrupt areas because of the AIDA signal you now carry," added the flick reaper after a few moments of thought.

"Does that mean that... we're a part of AIDA?" exclaimed Kuhn, staring down at his PC in disgust.

"In a sense. The bodies your minds now inhabit trapped your consciousnesses inside because AIDA somehow manipulated the code inside them to do so. I don't fully understand it yet." The gunner was still glaring down at his body with revulsion. Haseo's mouth contorted in hatred as he looked at himself, at this new infected body of his. 

"Calm down, both of you. I think that the remnants left inside you are harmless; there solely to make sure that you can't return to your physical bodies in the outside world."

"That's not exactly harmless," muttered the rogue.

"It won't harm you further. It won't hurt you any more, nor will it cause any transformations like it did with Ovan's arm. It's kind of like a benign cancer."

"If it's like a cancer, then can't we remove it?"

"I think that that would be how you can escape the game's hold on your minds. But data draining either of you would be very risky. It could potentially kill you, or trap you permanently within the game. You'll just have to sit tight for a while so I can try and find an alternative."

"Thank you Zelkova," said Kuhn.

Zelkova saluted them with a grin and warped out. 

"Can we really trust him?" asked Haseo, still looking sceptically at the spot where the flick reaper had disappeared.

Kuhn sighed. "I don't know whether we really _have_ the choice at this point. The evidence that he'd like to help is all there... I mean, he's facing character deletion by even being near us. He's also jeopardizing the safety of Moon Tree's Seven Council to help."

"But how well do we even know him? For all we know, he could be lying through his teeth. He could have ulterior motives. Maybe he's not as virtuous as he appears."

"We'll just have to put some faith in the kid."

They sat in silence for the next while, watching the inhabitants of Net Slum run around aimlessly. A half hour later, Haseo heard the faint sound of someone warping in, and watched as the door to the main area slid open. Endrance stepped out, flipping his blue locks carelessly to one side before approaching the two other Chosen Ones. 

"I've signed us up for the King Chim's Revenge quest."

"Isn't that a three person quest?" asked Haseo.

"Unfortunately... but it was apparently the only one you haven't completed."

"Well, who's the third person?"

"Kuhn, you will be accompanying us," replied Endrance grudgingly, clearly unhappy about having to invite another person in on his private time with Haseo.

"What if I had something planned?"

"I assumed that you wouldn't... apologies for the oversight. We shall have to find someone else then." Endrance shot Kuhn a withering look before grabbing Haseo. "Let us depart."

They'd reached the door when Kuhn yelled, "Wait! I'll go. We can't risk being found out just because I was going to uh... let's go."

The chilly emperor smiled knowingly at Kuhn before running ahead to catch up with Haseo.

Σ**Paling Past's Emotions**

"So, what's the object of this quest, anyway?" asked Haseo.

"We have to find a Nue and get it to summon a King Chim Chim."

"Did the Vital Vista mention where it might be?" asked the rogue.

"On a hill somewhere." Endrance shrugged indecisively, scanning the area.

Kuhn was hanging back, hoping he could sink into the yellow tinted grass and disappear. The field was one of those perpetual twilight ones, where the sunset never died. 

"Come on!" shouted the rogue, motioning for his friend to follow. He sighed before following reluctantly. As the trio approached the battle area, Kuhn began to feel uneasy. 

"Haseo?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you really think we should-"

"Shh, not now. I want to try this out."

They entered the blue barrier, and both felt their bodies begin to tingle, then go numb. Text displayed on the screen, and they stared in shock as their HP and MP bars appeared, as well as their menus and options. "What the…"

"Something wrong?" Endrance grunted as he used Disaster Sword to immobilize one of their three enemies.

"Ah… no." They all began fighting, Haseo shooting the aerial monsters and Kuhn and Endrance getting the ones at the bottom. The battle was over only too quickly, and Haseo and Kuhn's health bars disappeared along with everything else, plunging them once again into the network of the game. 

"How in hell did we just manage that?" gasped Haseo, staring wide eyed at his hands.

"Hmm... maybe it's a different type of data writing the monsters than it is writing the fields and the surrounding objects and animals. It may be that AIDA decided to keep us within the parameters of the battle system."

Haseo thought for a minute, then replied, "It's a possibility. If we're experiments, then it wouldn't want us dead, right?"

"Precisely."

"Come on, let's go fight some more and find that Nue."

"Roger that."

The rest of the quest went by easily, even though Kuhn kept noticing the scathing looks Endrance would shoot him when Haseo wasn't looking. 

Once they found the Nue, Haseo had a hard time kicking it. It was one thing when it was just data, but another when it was actually an inhabitant of his current reality. Luckily a gentle nudge with his boot was considered a kick by the game, and it summoned a King Chim Chim. 

"You both stay back. Since this is outside battle, I don't know how getting jumped on by a gigantic chim chim will turn out, and I'd rather not find out for your sake, Haseo." 

The chim chim was an ornery one, and kept dodging away just when Endrance got close to it. 

"Try leaving it for a minute, then sneaking up on it," offered Kuhn from his perch on a hill beside Haseo.

The former Emperor nodded curtly, running out of the chim's field of view and sneaking up behind it. Using these tactics he was easily able to steal its crown, and subsequently finish the quest.

"Wait... Doesn't this mean that the game will warp us back to-"

Before he could finish his sentence, they were transported into Breg Epona. 

Σ **Dual City Breg Epona**

"Oh fuck Kuhn... this is bad," said Haseo, as they were transported to the Quest Shop.

Dr. Kubo started talking, and both Kuhn and Haseo were jumping from one foot to another nervously, just waiting for the booming voice of an admin. Endrance looked worried as they waited for their prize. Finally, after what seemed like hours the Vital Vista handed them a Book of Power and the directions to his house in Mac Anu. 

Thankfully, it must have been early in the morning for the majority of players because almost no one was around. There were just a few human type players whispering together in a corner of the square, not paying any attention to anyone but each other.

"Okay... let's get out of here before anyone _does_ see us." 

**Net Slum Tartarga**

"My deepest apologies Haseo. I'd forgotten about the game's automated return system, and I vow to think things over more carefully next time. I promise that if I am the cause of your arrest, I shall do everything in my power to aid you both. I thank you for a wonderful time. 'Till next time."

Haseo forced a smile and waved. Once Endrance had left, he let out a growl of frustration. "That could have just blown our cover!"

The steam gunner was silent, looking concerned and contemplative at the same time. "I just realized that when you register for a quest, it gets recorded. Oh man... wait until CC Corp gets wind of this."

"So it's only a matter of time before they can get to Tartarga and capture us for whatever reason?"

"But they can't track us to Tartarga. CC Corp doesn't know that it exists... unless Reiko decides to spill the beans."

"Reiko...?"

"Pi."

"Since when do you two know each other in real life?"

"I met her a while ago. Remember, I work part time at CC Corp, so it's not hard to run into her."

Haseo felt a pang of jealousy. _"See kid? I told you you liked him."_

'_Shut it,'_ Haseo grumbled, a pout forming on his features.

"Something wrong?" They were suddenly nose to nose, and the rogue fought the instinct to scramble back. 

"N-no..." he looked down at the floor, avoiding his friend's gaze.

"You sure?" Kuhn slipped a finger under Haseo's chin and tilted his head back so he was looking properly at him. "Positive?"

Haseo made a strangled noise in the back of his throat, making Kuhn's wolfish grin even wider. He leaned in and pulled Haseo's bottom lip in between his teeth, running his tongue along it before capturing Haseo's lips in a searing kiss. "What's wrong Ha-se-o?" he asked as he pulled back, accentuating every syllable in the rogue's name, "cat got your tongue?"

'_Magus, stop it!' _Kuhn barked, trying to get control back from his Epitaph. 

"_Why? You're clearly enjoying it."_

'_I am __**not **__enjoying molesting my best friend!'_

"_Your body says otherwise,"_ Magus purred, causing a rosy blush to colour the gunner's cheeks as he became eternally thankful for his character design. Magus allowed himself to be shoved back into the depths of Kuhn's mind, leaving the gunner to deal with whatever damage his Epitaph had just done.

"I-I... it was..." he stuttered. Haseo was staring hard at the dusty ground of Tartarga, not daring to look up. Kuhn waited a few more seconds before bolting to the Chaos Gate, choosing the first area he saw and warping out of there before he had to see the rogue's face.

Δ** Hidden Forbidden Radiation**

'_MAGUS!'_ Kuhn yelled, his voice holding no trace of the affection usually present when he was talking to his old friend.

"_Yes?"_ The Propagation sounded rather guilty.

'_I'd like to know just what you were trying to pull back there. You could have just ruined one of the best friendships I ever had.'_

They were both silent for a minute.

"_Well, you see I... well... Skeith and I are-ah, __**were**__ lovers. A long time ago."_

"YOU'RE IN LOVE WITH SKEITH!" Kuhn roared, his words echoing throughout the area and coming close to drowning out the falls.

"_Honestly, you humans and your-"_

'_SO IT'S YOU! I'M NOT ATTRACTED TO HIM AT ALL. IT'S YOU WHO'S MAKING ME THINK I AM!'_

Magus snorted, and the gunner suddenly got a vivid image of his Epitaph facepalming in exasperation. 

"_Honestly Tomonari, for such a bright man you can be awfully thick."_

'_What's that supposed to mean?'_

"_You should know from experience that I don't have that sort of power over you. You've put up a rather good mental block against my taking over. I can't influence your emotions and feelings on a regular basis, merely slightly enhance or dilute them, depending on how I'm feeling at the time. My feelings for the Terror of Death __**could**__ be enhancing yours for that rogue, but I can guarantee that I'm not the cause. And plus... if you weren't attracted to him in the least, you wouldn't have that little problem of yours, now would you? Even when I take over your body, I can only make you do things. My arousal wouldn't reflect in your body."_

Kuhn flushed in embarrassment, willing his erection to go away._ 'Then how do you explain how you just tried to rape Haseo!'_

"_The kid was practically begging for it, pouting like that when you mentioned knowing Reiko outside the game. I wanted to help things along a bit, and your mental guard was down. Besides, he's the spitting image of Skeith. It was hard for me to keep my hands off of him at the best of times."_

'_Look, I know it's probably hard for you, but I don't want to jeopardize my friendship with him. Please, no more stunts like this. Let us work it out.'_

"_I'll try to restrain myself. And... I apologise. It was out of line for me to take control like that."_

'_It's alright, I guess. I only hope he forgives me. I don't think I'd be able to stand not being around him.'_

"Hark! Who art thou?"

**Net Slum Tartarga**

Haseo watched as Kuhn disappeared in a ball of shimmering blue, still in shock at what had just transpired. Touching his lips lightly, he said, "Did he just..."

"_...yeah. He did."_

'_You okay, Skeith? You don't sound like yourself.'_

"_His touch... it dredged up some old memories," _said Skeith gruffly.

'_Do you... want to talk about it?'_

"_Talking is for women. And Fidchell,"_ he snickered.

'_You sure you don't want to?'_

Skeith sighed loudly. _"I suppose you deserve to know. Magus and I were... we were fuckbuddies back in the day. Well, it started out that way, anyway."_

'_You... and Magus... you were...together?'_

"_That's what I said, kid."_

'_Is that why I started feeling so strongly for Kuhn? Because of you?'_

"_Keh. I'd never pass on that particular emotion to you. I'd prefer to keep my love life a secret from you, thanks very much. I must commend Magus on his choice of host, though. Kuhn's a good guy."_

'_Yeah... he really is.'_

The sound of someone warping into Tartarga startled Haseo out of his inner conversation. He looked up, and saw the petit form that was Atoli standing beside Pi. 

"HASEO!" Atoli squealed, running over to the corner where he was sitting and hugging him so tightly it knocked the wind from his lungs. He endured her for a few moments before he was able to pry Atoli's arms off his middle and stand up, when he turned his gaze to Pi. 

"What do you want?" he said coldly, his red orbs devoid of their usual vigour.

She looked small and scared, looking to the side and holding one arm nervously. "Haseo... I..."

"First of all, I want to know why the fuck you stopped responding."

"I- I couldn't. CC Corp forbade me to talk with either of you because of my friendship with you both. They were afraid that I'd leak information."

"That didn't stop Zelkova."

"Haseo, maybe you're being a bit hard on her," said Atoli quietly, taking hold of his arm.

"A bit hard on her! DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT KUHN AND I HAVE BEEN THROUGH!" he wrenched his arm away and glared at the two girls.

Pi bit her lip and looked at the floor. "Haseo, please. I know I can't just expect you to forgive me for abandoning you... but I've been trying so hard. I still can't find Master Yata, and I'm trying to keep my job at CC Corp so I can help you. If I hadn't been working there, you would have already been deleted." 

"Do they know where we are?"

"Luckily, I was the one who was on duty when you appeared in Breg Epona, so I was able to delete the evidence. You're still MIA."

"How did you get here? As a matter of fact, how did you know we were here?"

"Where you warped into after exiting Breg Epona was also recorded. I was able to gate hack this place quite easily with the information provided. Don't worry, CC Corp wouldn't have been able to figure out what the mess of numbers and letters recorded were, so there's nothing to worry about in that respect. I did delete the information though, so you don't have to fear."

"Why did you bring Atoli?"

"She's been hearing increasingly loud AIDA signals since you got trapped. I supposed it might be emanating from you. Plus, she's been worried sick about you."

"Is it?" he asked, looking to the blonde.

"It's the loudest I've heard it since the Morrigu Barrow Wall," said Atoli.

"Zelkova _did_ mention something about us now being some kind of part of AIDA."

"It's definitely something I'm looking into. Oh... I have to get back. I think they're starting to wonder where I've gone. Give my regards to Kuhn."

"Yeah, sure. Thanks Pi. I... I'm sorry for being such a jerk."

She smiled at him, before beckoning for Atoli to follow her. "It's not safe for either of us to stay too long off the radar. All your friends are under surveillance." 

He nodded and waved to them, then yawned and stretched, making his way to the Home to get some sleep. 

'_I wonder when Kuhn will be back,' _he thought worriedly.

Around two hours later, the gunner stumbled into Canard, giggling inanely and clutching onto the shoulder of none other than Piros the 3rd. 

"...what the hell?" mumbled Haseo, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

"AH, HE OF FAIR EYES! I-"

"Don't call me that."

"-found this ruffian hanging around Arche Koeln while searching for Tri-Edge. I recognized him as a friend of yours, and we got to talking. I animated some sake for both of us, and somehow he got drunk!"

Haseo sighed and got up. "Hand him over."

Piros gently pushed Kuhn off of him and prepared to leave. 

"'Till we meet again, He of Fair Eyes!"

Haseo was unable to reply, as the gunner had begun nibbling his ear, stopping to whisper, "You taste good."

Haseo went scarlet, mumbling, "Kuhn, get off. Come on, you're drunk."

"Not drunk," he slurred, shifting his attentions to Haseo's neck. 

"Are you sure you can handle him?" asked Piros quizzically, who hadn't left yet for one reason or another.

"Y-yes..." muttered Haseo thickly, trying to ignore the playful hand that was slipping under his shirt. Piros gave him one last long look before departing. "Call if you need anything," he said, waving.

"Mmm, now time to finish wha' we started earlier." Kuhn slid his hand back down Haseo's body and stopped at his crotch, rubbing the slight bulge he found through the cloth and eliciting a moan from the younger boy, feeling him get harder under his fingers. He then steered them towards the nearest wall, which he pressed Haseo against with his body.

"K-Kuhn? You sh-should stop."

"No fanks," he replied drunkenly, nibbling at Haseo's shoulder and giving his crotch another squeeze. 

"Ahhh, Kuhn!" he moaned, bucking into Kuhn's hand.

"Ya like tha'?" he drawled, wedging a leg in between Haseo's and starting to take off the rogue's armour. 

Haseo could only whimper in response as he ground his erection against Kuhn's leg. 

"_Kuhn! What are you doing!" _Magus sounded panicked, but Kuhn, in his drunken and lust fogged state, couldn't bring himself to care. _"What ever happened to keeping his friendship! He told you to stop!"_

"Jus' eff off Magus," Kuhn growled aloud, finally succeeding in pulling Haseo's shirt off. He licked a path between his friend's pecs, tracing the defined muscles with his tongue and stopping to kiss every few licks. 

"K-Kuhn?"

The blue haired gunner grunted in response, now preoccupied with sucking on a dusky nipple.

"I-I don't th-UNH, FUCK!" Kuhn's gloved hand slid into his pants, stroking Haseo and making him moan with pleasure and his legs give way. He was now supported entirely by Kuhn's leg, resting most of his weight on it as he pulled his friend down for a violent kiss. The gunner shoved his tongue roughly into Haseo's mouth, groaning wantonly as their dicks rubbed together through the layers of clothing.

"Want you... sooo bad," Kuhn slurred, kneeling and pushing Haseo's pants halfway down his hips. The young rogue inhaled sharply, sagging against the wall and moaning as his friend's tongue went lower and lower, stopping at the waistband of his pants and licking a tantalizing line along it.

"You _tease_!" 

Kuhn smirked up at him and started pulling Haseo's pants the rest of the way down. Before he could finish, however, a muffled squeak to their right caught his attention.

"Atoli!"

_Left it at a cliffhanger because I like being evil. R&R 'n' whatnot, 'cause I could use the help. _

_**Replies to Reviews:**_

_Thanks to all who reviewed, you guys make my day. :D_

_Akumarayne: I mentioned in the author's note that he already had Xth form, but I should have described his appearance, I guess. Thanks for the review, and I'm glad you like it. _

_Silabus' Taco: Oh God, I'm so flattered that you like my fic. ; w;_

_I totally loved all of yours. Your fics were actually what inspired me to write this one in the first place. Thanks so much for reviewing. _


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